Football legend George Best dies

[Airhog]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe...est/index.html

[terpkristin]

Though I've never been a ManU fan, always sad to see legends pass on, and he was indeed a legend.
RIP, George.

/tk

[Icy]

Just saw it in the Spanish TV news, but here they talked more about the parties he had etc that ruined his life, comparing him with Maradona.

[Leonidas]

They keep talking about this in England, but sorry, I'm having a hard time on the sympathy front.

You have a guy like Walter Payton who embodied dignity and greatness both on and off the field who through no action of his own, had the transplant and suffered an awful, untimely death.

Then you have a bum like Best had everything, and he pissed it all away in a bottle and yet is still regarded by many in the same light.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

They keep talking about this in England, but sorry, I'm having a hard time on the sympathy front.

You have a guy like Walter Payton who embodied dignity and greatness both on and off the field who through no action of his own, had the transplant and suffered an awful, untimely death.

Then you have a bum like Best had everything, and he pissed it all away in a bottle and yet is still regarded by many in the same light.

You mean like.... Mickey Mantle?!

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

They keep talking about this in England, but sorry, I'm having a hard time on the sympathy front.

You have a guy like Walter Payton who embodied dignity and greatness both on and off the field who through no action of his own, had the transplant and suffered an awful, untimely death.

Then you have a bum like Best had everything, and he pissed it all away in a bottle and yet is still regarded by many in the same light.

He brought a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people, was one of the greatest players ever and who are you to judge how he lived his life?

I don't have any sympathy for him, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate what he did and show some respect. Something I feel may be slightly missing in your post. A lot of people have people close to them who have a problem with alcohol, it doesn't make them bums and it certainly doesn't give you the right to rag on them a couple of hours after they have passed away. Just my opinion.

[Mac Howard]

I assume my post of the London Time's tribute to Best was removed for copyright reasons so here is a link to the site. Like all tributes it's over the top but it will give you an idea of the reverance for Best in the soccer world:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...890069,00.html


Here are three film clips of Best in action:

http://www.red11.org/barry/pics/best...ot_7_2_71.mpeg 1,7M
http://www.red11.org/barry/pics/best/best_sheffwed.mpeg 1,9M
http://www.red11.org/barry/pics/best/best_banks2.mpeg 1,6M

And from Pele and Maradona:

"George Best is the best player I ever played against." - Pele
"My favorite British player of all time is George Best. I love you George Best!" - Maradona

And from Best himself"

"I gave up sex and alchol for a while. I have to say it was the worst 20 minutes of my life. "

" I spent most of my money on women, fast cars and alchol... the rest I just squandered it."

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

They keep talking about this in England, but sorry, I'm having a hard time on the sympathy front.

You have a guy like Walter Payton who embodied dignity and greatness both on and off the field who through no action of his own, had the transplant and suffered an awful, untimely death.

Then you have a bum like Best had everything, and he pissed it all away in a bottle and yet is still regarded by many in the same light.

Yeah, it's difficult to feel sorry for a guy who has died slowly over the last few weeks isn't it...

It is inarguable that Best drank after the transplant, but I'm guessing you don't undertand addiction.

Best is being mourned worldwide as one of the all time great footballers, an indisputable fact. His personal life should not affect someone's right to have a group of people mourn his passing.

While I was surpised by the level of coverage his illness and death attracted (due to previous press coverage), it was a sign of the ability of the man on a football field, and his off the field actions should not and do not affect the fact that a lot of people who were amazed by his footballing ability feel deeply moved by his death.

George Best is not regarded by many in the same light as Walter Payton: most of the people who knew of one will not know of the other - the sympathy towards Best is one partly out of pity, partly out of guilt by those who ridiculed him in his worst periods - I am sure there is a cathartic (spelling?) aspect to the media coverage.

The fact that he had a problem should not affect your ability to feel sorrow that a man who had brought enjoyment to so many has passed away. I never saw the man play football, and generally do not understand national or international outpourings of grief at the passing of celebrities: however, I do feel genuine sadness at the death of George Best. Even if you do not yourself, your comments are in poor taste at best.

[Crapshoot]

From all accounts, one of the best to have ever played the game. A flawed individual - but goddamnit, none of us are perfect.

And well said Jari.

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by Mac Howard

I assume my post of the London Time's tribute to Best was removed for copyright reasons so here is a link to the site. Like all tributes it's over the top but it will give you an idea of the reverance for Best in the soccer world:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...890069,00.html


Here are three film clips of Best in action:

http://www.red11.org/barry/pics/best...ot_7_2_71.mpeg 1,7M
http://www.red11.org/barry/pics/best/best_sheffwed.mpeg 1,9M
http://www.red11.org/barry/pics/best/best_banks2.mpeg 1,6M

And from Pele and Maradona:

"George Best is the best player I ever played against." - Pele
"My favorite British player of all time is George Best. I love you George Best!" - Maradona

And from Best himself"

"I gave up sex and alchol for a while. I have to say it was the worst 20 minutes of my life. "

" I spent most of my money on women, fast cars and alchol... the rest I just squandered it."

While it is part of the attitude that ultimately led to his death, I can't help smiling at the stroy of the bellboy who delivered breakfast to George Best while he was lying in bed with a Miss World, with bottles of champagne on ice surrounding a bed strewn with cash, and the bellboy shaking his head asking 'George, where did it all go wrong'

Or his answer to the journalist who said he had slept with 7 Miss Worlds: 'It was only four, I didn't turn up for the other three'.

RIP George. Like your dad said this morning, they can't get at you any more.

[McSweeny]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

From all accounts, one of the best to have ever played the game. A flawed individual - but goddamnit, none of us are perfect.

And well said Jari.

damn straight! they don't get any better than george best! we mourn him because we can all relate to him. we've all got our addictions and george best was a regular person and he fought with the demons that all of us fight with. that's why we all mourn his passing with such passion... we mourn because george best was a superstar that the average person could relate to. god bless you george best, may you find peace on the pitch up in the sky

[Leonidas]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

You mean like.... Mickey Mantle?!

Yes, I do mean like Mickey Mantle. At least Mickey smartened up and changed his lifestyle at the end. But when you get a DUI after your liver transplant, well my sympathy factor falls through the toilet. He died by his own hand.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Yes, I do mean like Mickey Mantle. At least Mickey smartened up and changed his lifestyle at the end. But when you get a DUI after your liver transplant, well my sympathy factor falls through the toilet. He died by his own hand.

Well, if you don't harbor sympathy for someone, you don't show up the funeral, do you? This thread is the funeral for him on this board, so why don't you just leave the funeral, and let the people who actually do care express their feelings?

RIP, Mr. Best. I'm not a big follower of football, and I didn't really know who you were, but RIP.

[Leonidas]

This is a web board, not a funeral. I thought this was a place for an exchange of ideas and opinions, not a mutual admiration society for anything, FOF included. My idea being that this guy, along with Kurt Cobain and others blessed with great talent who pissed it all away are not deserving of all this adoration because the way they treated their blessings is an insult to the rest of us who try to make the most of what we have.

[Karlifornia]

He seemed pretty happy about where he was at. Maybe playing soccer wasn't the thing that made him happy. How would you feel if someone told you that you could be the best at cleaning up cow manure, and you could make more money than anyone else cleaning up cow manure? Would you throw on your on uniform and hop to it?

Even if it is just a game, some people find happiness with other things. I realize that football afforded him the things the enjoyed, but your own personal (I don't know....jealousy????) values of happiness aren't someone else's.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Yes, I do mean like Mickey Mantle. At least Mickey smartened up and changed his lifestyle at the end. But when you get a DUI after your liver transplant, well my sympathy factor falls through the toilet. He died by his own hand.

And? What's your point? He lived life to the fullest and probably had more fun than most people. I'm sorry that you feel that people don't deserve sympathy when they lived life the way they wanted to, but others do.

[Mac Howard]

Maybe playing soccer wasn't the thing that made him happy.

On the contrary he loved the game. But he was kept from the very highest levels because he was from Northern Ireland and not even he could turn the N.Ireland squad into a competent team. So international honours were denied him. He could never strut his stuff on the World Cup stage.

But by his mid-twenties he'd won everything he could at club level - the European Championship with Man Utd and voted European Player of the Year. This may well have affected his subsequent behaviour - there was simply nowhere beyond that for him to go.

Nevertheless he played at the top with Utd for eleven years before his alcohol abuse began to affect his game.

Another couple of points that may not be known here: despite being hailed as the best player in Europe and possibly only behind Pele in the world and beauty queens throwing themselves at his feet he never lost his humility - he was always the kid from the back streets of Belfast. The comments attributed to him above were always said with a certain amount of embarrassment as if he realised that this was what the media wanted to hear but was uncomfortable in saying them.

He never developed the arrogance that his talents and celebrity may well have produced, no malice in him and was liked by everyone that came in contact with him. Don't think "big celebrity" that wouldn't give you the time of day - he was always just the sort of guy you would expect to meet in the street (or the pub). No airs, no graces, no special treatment. The tributes for him now are almost universal - only a sanctimonious few are critical.

He also never blamed anyone else or made excuses for his alcoholism. He always admitted that it was a flaw in his character and was not into deflecting the guilt onto others or circumstances. He came out of "the troubles" in Northern Ireland and his mother died of alcoholism at 54 but these were never cause for excuse from him.

He was just an incredibly talented, shy guy who everybody liked but who never really grew up and became responsible - a leprecaun of a man

[Critch]

Originally Posted by RadioFriendlyUnitShifter

Maybe playing soccer wasn't the thing that made him happy.

I don't think the playing soccer was what he was trying to avoid when he left Man Utd, despite dropping out for a year or so he did return to play soccer and played nearly 300 more games after leaving Man Utd and before retiring from playing in his late 30's. A lot of it was in the NASL where he could avoid celebrity, but he did play a couple of seasons with Fulham.

I only saw him play live once, round about 1980 when he was playing for Hibernian in the Scottish League. We turned up and sang "there's only one Irish alky" for 45 minutes, then he was substituted at half time.

[Mac Howard]

I posted links to a couple of mpegs which showed a single goal. Here's a link to a streaming video source which will give you a much better idea of what all the fuss is about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=dVCSfKr9Lds

[Ryan S]

If you want to download the last clip in wmv format, you can find it on either of these links:

http://www.grabme.net/dl.php?key=4a5...dd4d28606233b9

http://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...92RPYDOPZI4G72